Frequently Asked Questions

During a four-year time frame, you can teach under a provisional certification. Although a four-year degree can verify your content knowledge, it is not required to become a CTE instructor. At the high school level, work experience in your content area is valued. There are requirements to become fully certified, which include taking courses.

Completion of the Technical Teacher Education program varies depending upon the level you want to teach. For certification purposes at the high school level (requiring 29 hours of coursework), the state allows a four-year time period to gain the necessary coursework needed for full certification. At the community/technical college level, it depends on the requirements of the school as to how long it will take.

Most individuals taking coursework within the Technical Teacher Education program are full-time employees, and courses are offered in a number of different formats to address their work schedules. About two-thirds of our courses require some type of face-to-face class which is held in a weekend format two or three times each semester: Friday night (5 – 10 p.m.) and Saturday (8 – 6 p.m.). Three of our courses are completely online, while others have a mixed delivery (hybrid) where a portion of the class meets face-to-face and the rest is delivered online. We currently deliver these courses in Salina, Kansas City & Pittsburg.

In most instances this is a huge benefit to you. For example, if you are wanting to teach at the high school level, you must demonstrate competence in your trade/occupational area as a part of your certification. An industry credential can be used to do this. For a nursing instructor, the state license can be used to verify your content knowledge. If you do not have an industry credential, a NOCTI test is used to test your skills and knowledge in your content area.

This mainly depends on what level you want to teach. For example, a college may require you to have a bachelor's degree, whereas at the high school level, you would be required to obtain the necessary coursework and other requirements to achieve a full certification in CTE. Regardless of level you wish to teach, the Technical Teacher Education faculty can assist you in developing a plan to assist you in this transition.

Who is KCCTE?

KCCTE was created with the purpose of providing technical and professional development opportunities for industry professionals who are interested in becoming Career and Technical Education (CTE) instructors. Depending on industry experience and/or credentials, there is a path from the career into the high school or college classroom. By providing technical workshops, professional mentorship, coursework, and a resource-sharing website, KCCTE fully prepares CTE instructors for their new career!